


Bound by Choice and by Blood

by LibraryMage



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Autistic Character, Autistic Ezra Bridger, Blood Bond, Father-Son Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 03:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13895499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: Ezra is injured and, as always, his family is there to help.





	Bound by Choice and by Blood

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this one last night, before I watched the finale, and after that, I think we could all use a little sappy found family fluff.
> 
> warning for: major character injury; non-graphic references to medical stuff

Slowly, like his lids were weighed down, Ezra opened his eyes.  He was lying down on something soft, and the air around him smelled like home, but also carried a sharp, harsh scent like…cleaning fluid?  Or antiseptic?  Something sterile that made his nose twitch.  He hurt all over, but the worst of the pain came from his right leg.

“You scared us for a while there, kid.”

That was Kanan’s voice and that hand that came down on his shoulder was unmistakably Kanan’s, too.  Ezra turned his head to the side to see Kanan sitting on the very edge of the bunk beside him.  A quick glance around the room revealed Hera sitting at the foot of the bed, leaning against the wall.

“Do I know you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly and glancing between the two of them as he carefully pulled himself into a sitting position.

Kanan stared at him for a moment, his mouth slightly open, confusion and concern swirling together in the air around him.  He looked over at Hera, who had suddenly sat up straighter, leaning forward slightly, casting an anxious look at Kanan.

Ezra tried to maintain his confused, slightly-fearful stare, trying not to break, but within seconds he felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile.  He gave up and laughed as Kanan’s hand lightly hit the back of his head.

“Don’t _do_ that,” Kanan said.

“Couldn’t resist,” Ezra said as Hera gave a relieved sigh and leaned back against the wall again.

“You remember what happened?” Kanan asked.

“I did,” Ezra said, “but then someone hit me on the back of the head.”

“He’s fine,” Kanan said, rolling his eyes and looking over at Hera.

“Ezra, we really --” Hera started, but was cut off by Ezra beginning to nod.

“I remember being chased,” he said.  “I remember trying to jump to the next roof and coming up short.  I remember something slicing my leg open, but I wasn’t really paying attention to what it was.”

As he said it, he felt a twinge in his leg, like his body itself was remembering the metal tearing through his flesh.  He gingerly moved the blanket he’d been covered with, only to see that the wound was, of course, covered with a bandage.

“How bad was it?” he asked.

“Pretty bad,” Hera said.  “You lost a lot of blood.  It’s why you passed out.”

“Right,” Ezra said quietly as he let that piece fall into place in the sequence of events.  He certainly hadn’t remembered hitting his head on anything.  Then again, if he’d hit his head hard enough to knock himself out, he probably wouldn’t remember it.

“We had to give you a blood transfusion,” Hera continued.

“How?” Ezra asked.

“Hera’s had a little bit of informal medical training,” Kanan explained, with the air of his words being some kind of inside joke that went over Ezra’s head.

Ezra shook his head.

“I mean where’d you get the blood?” he asked.

“From Kanan,” Hera said.  “Turns out you two have the same blood type.”

For just a second too long, Ezra stared down at the crook of his right elbow, at the bruise he now realized was from a needle being inserted into a vein.

“Something wrong?” Kanan asked.

“No,” Ezra said.  “It’s just…thanks.”

“You’d do the same for me,” Kanan said, giving Ezra’s arm a gentle squeeze.

For a moment, the three of them sat in comfortable silence until Ezra opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it.

“What is it?” Hera asked.

“Nothing,” Ezra said.  “It’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not,” Kanan said.

“Kind of is,” Ezra mumbled.  He sighed as he fiddled with the edge of the blanket.

“There’s this thing,” he said, his face flushing with embarrassment.  He didn’t know why he even wanted to say this if it was making him feel like this, but he pushed on.  “Here on Lothal, there’s -- it’s not really common anymore, and legally the Empire doesn’t recognize it, but before, it was -- if you mixed your blood with someone else’s, it’s a way of…”

He ducked his head so he couldn’t accidentally make eye contact with either of them.

“…adopting them,” he muttered, his hands jumping from the blanket to his face in an instinctive attempt to hide from them that only highlighted his embarrassment.

“Ezra --”

“I mean it doesn’t really count,” Ezra said quickly, suddenly feeling like his heart was trying to burst from his chest as he was overcome with anxiety and a desperate need to erase everything he’d just said.  “Transfusions are different.  Everyone knows that.”

“Ezra,” Kanan said again, resting his hand on Ezra’s shoulder.  The touch was gentle, but Ezra jumped, wincing as he moved his wounded leg.

“Do you want it to count?” Kanan asked.

Ezra shrugged.

“I told you, it’s stupid,” he said.  “It’s the drugs talking.”

“We didn’t give you any drugs,” Hera said.

Kanan shifted where he sat so he could slide his arm around Ezra’s shoulders.

“Ezra, we don’t have to be anything you don’t want us to be,” he said.  “And I never want you to feel like I’m trying to replace your father.”

“But?” Ezra asked, already knowing the word was coming.

“But I love you,” Kanan said.  “You know that, right?”

Ezra nodded.

“You’ll always be family to me,” Kanan said.

“I lo--” Ezra felt like he’d been punched in the throat as he tried to get the words out.  He meant it.  He _did_.  But the words were tripping him up, tangling together and stubbornly refusing to let him speak.  It should be simple.  _I love you, too._   It wasn’t like he’d never said it before.

“I --” Once again the words failed him.  He pressed himself against Kanan’s side, leaning his head against his master’s shoulder and switching to the words he knew would come out and would say everything he wanted them to.

“Thanks, Dad.  For everything.”

Kanan’s arm tightened around his shoulders, and Ezra knew instinctively that Kanan understood.

“You know,” Hera said, gently nudging Ezra’s ankle to get his attention.  “If you look at it the right way, Kanan _did_ just give you life.”

As Ezra rolled his eyes and moved to the side, suddenly self-conscious about how he was clinging to Kanan, the door slid open, revealing Sabine with something clutched in her hand.

“Got it,” she said, tossing the object to Hera, who caught it in one hand.  Her eyes fell on Ezra and she grinned as she realized he was awake.

“Guess you get to be awake for this,” she said.

“Awake for what?” Ezra asked, shooting a suspicious glance at Hera.

“Tetanus shot,” Hera said, standing up and taking a few steps across the room so she could get to Ezra’s arm.

“Do I have to?” Ezra asked.  At least for the transfusion, he’d been unconscious and hadn’t had to _know_ someone was sticking a needle in him.

“Yes,” Hera and Kanan said in unison.  Ezra held out his arm toward Hera, knowing that was the end of that argument.


End file.
